The skywriter

She took up pen and paper to tell the untold stories of stars and planets.

advertisement

Manjari Mitra

January 7, 2010

ISSUE DATE: January 18, 2010

UPDATED: January 15, 2010 15:49 IST

More than a decade ago, when I first visited the Nehru Planetarium, I never knew what surprises awaited me. I was a student of literature with no interest in astrophysics whatsoever. I was accompanying a friend who was a member of AAAD. I had heard lots of interesting stories about this club (which sounded more like Alcoholics Anonymous), but actually stood for Amateur Astronomers Association of Delhi.

My first impression of the planetarium was that it was a dark and dim place with lots of space-related objects that made little sense to me at the time. But the moment I entered the Night Sky Theatre, I was hooked. It has a simulated night sky where amateur astronomers learn to navigate their way across the stars, constellations and other heavenly bodies. I was amazed to know that not only do the constellations have names, but all 88 of them have names for each of the star that forms them as well.

Another thing that truly interested me as a literature student was that most of the northern constellations were named after Greek gods like Aries, legendary heroes such as Hercules, mythical creatures like Cetus, Centaurus and Hydra, and even the mythological river of Eridanus!

Who would have thought that I would see an amalgamation of literature and ancient mythology in the so-called 'den of science'.

It as then that I realised that astronomy is different things to different people. Maybe that is the reason why AAAD housed members from six to 60 years old. It nurtured people's imaginations and inspired them to look at the heavens and beyond.

For school students, who usually come during the vacations, it is a place to make that special science project that will give them an edge over others. For college students, it is a stepping stone to know more about astrophysics and astronomy-a field that is unfortunately not covered in the undergraduate level in any Indian university.

Even when I accompanied our group for overnight observations in the hinterland, I noticed that everyone saw the stars from their individual perspective. A student of chemistry sees nuclear reactions. A physicist may be more interested in the electromagnetic effect that celestial objects will have. A farmer sees the night sky as a calendar that helps him decide when to sow and reap his harvest. A navigator sees the night sky as a guide pointing to new places. A poet sees the beauty of the night sky as an inspiration. To the common man, with an interest in myths, the night sky reflects the different stories heard during childhood.

This was one of the many reasons why I chose to be faithful to astronomy-it is a truly democratic science. In short, astronomy has a very big heart, perhaps as big as the universe it tries to explore.